Investors targeting investments in the country’s agric sector have a lot to benefit as food production dominates Federal Government’s agenda, Taiwo Hassan writes
Government’s policies are geared towards boosting the economy in all ramifications.
For the country’s agric sector, most of the policies rolled out so far have failed to impact on Nigerians in terms of food production and security.
Budget
Indeed, the Federal Government announced that it had allocated N132 billion to support farmers and farming activities in 2025, as part of the National Agricultural Development Fund (NADF).
This initiative aims to tackle challenges such as poverty, low productivity, and limited access to resources, which have long hindered agricultural growth in Nigeria.
The NADF, established in 2022, serves as a critical vehicle for financial support and policy implementation. It outlines nine functions, including supporting agricultural development in all aspects, financing the implementation of agricultural policies, strengthening institutions, and providing on-lending opportunities to farmers and corporate bodies.
With this allocation, the Fund aims to empower farmers by ensuring access to critical resources, such as improved seeds, fertilizers, irrigation systems, and market opportunities.
Smallholder farmers, who represent over 80 per cent of Nigeria’s agricultural workforce, will be looking out to benefit greatly from this initiative.
Obviously, N132 billion for agric sector in 2025 is nothing to write home about while evaluating the farmers’ database as agric experts have expressed their pessimism about the fund being diverted.
In 2024, Nigeria’s agric sector recorded steady growth, contributing at its peak of 28.65 per cent to the nation’s GDP, driven by increased production in crops such as maize, rice, and cassava, as well as sustained investment in mechanisation and technology adoption.
However, growth was constrained by insecurity in key farming regions, high input costs, and limited access to credit for smallholder farmers.
Inflationary pressures also impacted on the affordability of essential inputs, while climate variability affected yields.
Strengthening climate resilience and ensuring access to affordable financing will be crucial to unlocking the sector’s full potential and ensuring its pivotal role in Nigeria’s economic diversification agenda.
Rising inflation
There is no doubt that all eyes will be on President Tinubu’s government to reduce the all-time high inflation, including food inflation, which has accounted for a spike in food prices nationwide.
During his New Year’s message to Nigerians on January 1, Tinubu announced the creation of a National Credit Guarantee Company to help lower the prices of food and essential drugs in Nigeria, saying: “In 2025, our government is committed to intensifying efforts to lower these costs by boosting food production and promoting local manufacturing of essential drugs and other medical supplies.
“We are resolute in our ambition to reduce inflation from its current high of 34.6 per cent to 15 per cent. “With diligent work and God’s help, we will achieve this goal and provide relief to all our people.”
For instance, as a result of petrol prices surging from N198 to an astonishing N1,030 in just 18 months, inflation has increased from 22.79 per cent in June 2023 to 34.60 per cent in November 2024.
Because fuel is integral to every facet of life, subsidy removal has been a major driver of high food prices, transportation, energy costs, and, generally, the cost of living.
Available data from the NBS showed that food inflation at 39.93 per cent in November 2024 was significantly higher than 24.82 per cent before the subsidy removal. Also, core inflation increased to 28.75 per cent in November 2024 from 19.83 per cent in May 2023.
Agenda
As President Tinubu is determined to tackle the soaring prices of food items, there is no doubt that agric investors will be waiting for multi-stakeholder engagement with various farmers’ associations and operators in the value chain.
Specifically, targeted investors will be painstakingly evaluating the impacts of the unveiled 2024 agenda for the sector, which goals were to boost food security, improved employment, ensure economic growth, and eradicate poverty.
According to the the Minister of State for Agriculture, Aliyu Abdullahi, the Ministry is closely aligned with President Tinubu’s agenda, which prioritises food security.
He stated that the Ministry had developed a comprehensive 2024 plan to improve the entire agricultural system, with a strong focus on achieving food security.
However, all these goals will be under scrutiny from stakeholders to see whether they would drive production and processing, thereby reducing post-harvest losses, a major problem for farmers in the sector.
In addition to that, they will also be looking at the Ministry’s intentions to streamline existing programmes in areas like value chain development, seed production, processing, livestock, and input provision.
Crops
In this year 2025, investors will be
watching out for government’s effort to prioritise wheat production and other crops as another measure to combat food scarcity.
Already, stakeholders in the sector have expressed their disappointments that Nigeria, despite its internal capacity, currently only produces half a million metric tons of wheat, while consuming over six million tonnes annually.
They emphasised the need to empower wheat farmers in the 15 wheat-producing states, which include all northern states except Nasarawa, as well as Benue, Kwara, and Kogi.
Beyond wheat, they listed other crops such as rice, maize, cassava, millet, sorghum, and soybean, with ongoing efforts already focused on cassava cultivation.
On this, Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security explained: “We’re trying to maximise available opportunities like dry season farming, areas where there are no terrorists, areas with adequate farm land and available farmers that we can support to go into irrigation farming.
“We’ve already kicked start wheat in February last year, right now, preparations are in top gear for maize, rice and cassava.
“Various state governments would come on board because they’re stakeholders, so we engage them and in the process they provide us farmers and land.”
Agric extension services
Another major area this year for stakeholders and investors will be the administration of extension services in the sector.
Already, the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari, had revealed the Ministry’s plan to bring in ICT enabled extension services, support soil tests for farmers and also address the issue of political farmers as measures are being put in place to target and support the actual farmers who are truly tilling the land.
So stakeholders will be closely monitoring how government is helping the farmers in shaping agric business, especially farmers that have hectares of land.
According to Kyari, “what we want to do is to make sure that if we say we are going to plant 100,000 hectares, let’s be sure that we know where the 100,000 hectares are.”
Post-harvest losses
One key aspect that stakeholders will be happy to see major improvement is the area of post-harvest losses. Inherent post-harvest losses have been a cause for concern for the government and key stakeholders.
Indeed, government has been making frantic efforts to reduce post-harvest losses by putting in place stringent mea – sures to reduce the losses to the barest minimum.
While speaking on the country’s postharvest losses, the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security said: “We are looking at how we’re going to increase the aspect of valorisation of value addition to process some of these commodity because the moment you are able to process some of these commodities properly, it means you’ll be reducing their spoilage and bringing more, processed products which farmers can earn income from.
Food scarcity
Already, Nigeria is facing one of the most challenging times in its agricultural sector, being triggered by food insecurity. This may not be unconnected with the mitigating factors affecting the country in general.
The country’s food insecurity will be one of the main focus in 2025 as Nigeria plans to aggregate food production. For instance, President Tinubu talked about the security challenges and its multifaceted effects on food security.
He said: “On the security front, I am happy to announce to you, my compatriots, that our administration is winning the war on terror and banditry.
“Our target is to eliminate all the threats of Boko Haram, banditry, kidnapping for ransom, and the scourge of all forms of violent extremism.
The average cost of basic food items in Nigeria may reach an unprecedented level of price surge in the coming months, exacerbating the already challenging economic conditions.
This projection is based on the decision by farmers in the northern part of the country to export their bumper harvest to neighbouring countries in exchange for foreign currency while neglecting local demand as the dry season approaches.
Biotechnology
Genetic Modified Organism (GMO) is expected to make an impactful change to the country’s agriculture this year.
Already, the National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA) has disclosed that the introduction of biotechnology in the agric sector, will ultimately reduce the country’s food imports bills profiles spending on foods importation and improved food security in the country.
This is expected to be very crucial as the country is currently being confronted with $10 billion worth of food stuff annually imported from abroad to meet food and agricultural product needs.
Livestock ministry
However, with the creation of the Livestock Development Ministry out of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security last year, many stakeholders will be paying more attention to the transformation being expected to boom in this new ministry.
Precisely, the new livestock sector provided the ideal opportunity for targeted investors willing to go into full scale agriculture to invest in this year, as all eyes will be on the goodies the new livestock industry has in plans for people to explore and venture into.
Last line
In conclusion, investors will be keenly looking forward to agric dividends this new year as promised by the government as many Nigerians look forward to food availability.
